Ritwik Ghatak Retrospective - Meghe Dhaka Tara

Synopsis

Set against the backdrop of the Partition of Bengal, Ritwik Ghatak’s 1960 masterpiece follows Neeta, the selfless eldest daughter of a struggling refugee family in the outskirts of Calcutta. Bearing the entire financial and emotional weight of her unappreciative relatives—a disabled father, an idealistic brother, and a cunning sister—she quietly sacrifices her own education, love, and health. Her lover Sanat abandons her for her younger sister Gita, her brother’s climbing career stalls, and the family never acknowledges her devotion. Tragedy mounts as her younger brother is injured in a factory accident and she herself contracts tuberculosis, ultimately becoming the very burden she once carried for others.